In op-ed, James Franco weighs in on Shia LaBeouf's erratic behavior

James Franco weighed in on the Shia LaBeouf controversy via a New York Times op-ed.

James Franco weighed in on the Shia LaBeouf controversy via a New York Times op-ed. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Oliver Gettell

It was only a matter of time before James Franco, the actor, writer and director who can sometimes treat his career as an ongoing performance piece, weighed in on the recent antics of Shia LaBeouf, who has recently taken a page out of Franco's playbook with a number of spectacles-cum-art-displays.

In an op-ed piece for the New York Times published on the paper's website Wednesday, Franco expresses concern for and support of the 27-year-actor, writing: "Though the wisdom of some of his actions may seem questionable, as an actor and artist I’m inclined to take an empathetic view of his conduct."

"This behavior," Franco writes, "could be a sign of many things, from a nervous breakdown to mere youthful recklessness. For Mr. LaBeouf's sake I hope it is nothing serious. Indeed I hope — and, yes, I know that this idea has pretentious or just plain ridiculous overtones — that his actions are intended as a piece of performance art, one in which a young man in a very public profession tries to reclaim his public persona."

As he says in the op-ed, "Any artist, regardless of his field, can experience distance between his true self and his public persona."

Of LaBeouf, he adds, without any nod to some of his own critics, "I think [his] project, if it is a project, is a worthy one. I just hope that he is careful not to use up all the good will he has gained as an actor in order to show us that he is an artist."